• Closed • The Mountain King

[Tio Silver]

The Mountain King

35th Ashan, 720
Scalvoris Mountains

"This is a problem."

Mount Ornthrus loomed in the distance, a dark spire of jagged rocks and murky mist. Among all the mountains in Scalvoris this one was known as the most dangerous; a place of malice and darkness. People claimed that evil spirits resided on the mountain, tricking all who dared to trespass and leading them into traps. There had always been a chilling atmosphere about the place, but in recent arcs that atmosphere had intensified to a point that you could almost feel it pushing against you like water. Dark thunderclouds had been gathering around the peak, swollen to burst with thunder and rain, and yet release had yet to come. Something was gathering at the top of the mountain: something that heralded disaster.

Standing atop the neighbouring mountain, Tio frowned at the thunderclouds. Not only was this a problem, it was the worst kind of problem: one that was his responsibility to deal with! If he could act as he normally did that wouldn't be a problem, but this time he couldn't take direct action. He'd have to play it subtle.

Perhaps he ought to take a page out of the other Immortal's books? His frown curled up into a lopsided smirk as he weighed his options. Yes, he needed agents to act in stead. And he had just the people in mind.



It began with a dream.

Although miles apart in reality, when Balthazar, Yeva, Victor and Woe succumbed to the sweet embrace of sleep they found themselves within the deck of a titanic wooden ship, each room the size of a great hall. Yet despite the impressive size the ship was bare and empty, devoid of any signs of life other than themselves. They were only there for a moment before the ship began to rumble and quake, as if it were running aground.

And suddenly they woke up, only to find that they were not in the same place they had fallen asleep.

Rough, cold rock lay against their backs in place of a bed, blanketed with a thin dusting of snow. Without any sheets to warm them the chill in the misty air seeped into their bones, whipped up by the wind to rob their limbs of feeling. All in all it was a distinctly miserable way to wake up. Fortunately a small pile of the belongings that'd been nearby them when they fell asleep were cobbled together in the middle of where they lay, and a modest campfire was burning away merrily nearby.

Sitting cross-legged by the fire was Tio, looking far too happy with himself for someone who had, technically, just committed kidnapping. At seeing them stir he began to pile a load of sausages and bacon from the frying pan onto a set of plates, and fixed them each with a charming grin. "Morning sleepyheads! Welcome to the mountains of Scalvoris!" He called, gesturing upwards to draw their attention to the ominous looking mountain they were camped at the foot of. A short distance away stood a gate that marked the beginning of a flight of stairs leading up it.

"Apologies for the rude awakening. I promise I don't usually make a habit of this sort of thing, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I am Tio, the Devout of Scalvoris. I've had to summon you here because this mountain, Ornthrus, is on the verge of unleashing a catastrophe upon Scalvoris." He looked up to the pitch black clouds swirling overhead. "Tomorrow the power building up above it will be unleashed unless a small party, such as yourselves, can reach it in time and liberate the source."

"Now I appreciate that this is all a bit sudden and can again only apologize for the drastic measures I've taken to bring you here, but every second is precious. Rest assured I'll see you well rewarded for your aid. So what do you all say?" He fixed them each with a questioning look. "Can you help me out?"

General Info

Welcome to the thread! I'll be your guest moderator for today.

I've refined the original idea a bit so it's all a part of one big thread, designed to be a personal struggle for each character.
I would ask you to please respond by the 13th of April, or to PM me if this is not possible.

Rules

Other than violence and the odd swear words I would ask that there not be any explicit adult themes.

Mod Style

I am shamelessly copying this style of moderation (and the template structure) from Pegasus, who I gather was taught it by someone called Crimson, because it looks like it works really well and I'd like to give it a try. Imitation is the highest form of flattery after all. My thanks to both of them.

The NPCs do not reflect my own personal thoughts of feeling on any subject. They are just characters.

As I'm only a guest mod I'm not going to kill your character, severely wound them or anything like that, but I would like to give fair rewards/consequences for any actions taken in this thread. If you feel that these are at all unfair please let me know.

Otherwise let's have some fun!

Obectives

Must Do

1. Describe what equipment you have with you. It's cold, so dress warm. Weapons might not be as handy as you think, but keeping a little something with you wouldn't go amiss.
2. State whether you'll join the mission or not.

Can Do

1. Ask any questions you may have.
2. Eat some sausages or bacon.

[Yeva]

Rude Awakening

35 Ashan 720

Yeva tossed and turned with closed eyes, reaching for the comforter that should have been nearby, but what she felt was cold, icy, and wet. Azrael? She shivered and withdrew her hand, her body curling as stone bit away her warmth and dug ruthlessly into her hips, her shoulders, "Close the door," she said, or at least she tried to. The sound that escaped her throat was somewhere between a whimper and a groan, brown eyes fluttering open.

This was not the inn.

Her body stilled as fear and confusion took over. She looked down, felt the floor and then sat up, a look of horror plastered on her face beneath waves of un-tameable red curl. What was happening? Heart pounding quicker with every unfamiliar detail, her breath came in quick bursts and rushed to grab the one thing she recognized - her bag, and atop it, half buried in white powder - her cloak.

Never had she been so happy to see a piece of clothing! Yeva's breath came out in puffs of visible clouds and wearing little but an oversized tunic acting as a night dress. The ice caused her limbs to ache terribly, the young medic scrambling to cover herself while she caught the first glimpses of those around her. Was that... Balthazar?

"Morning, sleepyheads! Welcome to the mountains of Scalvoris!"

Yeva shrunk back in fear, glancing nervously between the owner of the voice and the mountain he gestured to. At least that answered the question that had been on the tip of her tongue - Where am I? Swallowing, she noticed her daily attire, which had been left draped over the end post of the bed she had fallen asleep in, crumpled in a pile by a jagged rock formation. She knocked snow from their folds and rushed to pull the woolen trousers over her small clothes, desperately needing to not feel so... well, vulnerable. Thankfully, she noticed her boots.

He spoke easily, as if chatting with friends and not victims to whatever game this was. The next question grew in her throat, but this he answered too - Who are you?

Tio, the Devout of Scalvoris, determined that they - this group - would solve a problem plaguing the mountain. Ornthrus. Apparently, it had a name.

The next question erupted from her chest, although its tone was barely more than a weakened whisper. Tears had sprung to her eyes as panic and adrenaline slithered in her veins and she clutched the rest of her things to her chest, "What's wrong with you?" she stared in disbelief at the fire, daring to step closer but shaking her head at the offer of food. She seemed to find her resolve, anger aflame in her dark eyes, "You could just ask! You shouldn't just... just..." her chest rose in quick succession, "You can't just kidnap people!"

Was she insane? Was this really all a dream? How was any of this possible! Yeva was then convinced she could not feel as isolated or as alone as she did standing atop that mountain. She spun to look for those who had arrived with her. So far, it appeared that she was the only woman. Surely she wasn't the only one upset? Yeva forced herself to take a deep breath, hands clenched as she tried to will resolve. Through tight lips, she had to ask, "What... What kind of trouble?" she chewed her lip and then nodded towards the Element, whom she respected professionally. The others... especially the host, she remained unsure of, "I'll only go if Balthazar does."

► Show Spoiler

Yeva's Attire:
White Tunic (Large)
Grey Woolen Trousers
Leather Boots
Order of Adunih Cloak (Green)
Small Clothes

Leather Backpack
Medic's Kit
Rope (30ft)
Journal & Pen
Arathanaka Rune Stones
Gloves
Map of Scalvoris Town
Water Skin (Empty)
Headband w/Avriel Feathers
Spyglass
Book of Matches
Embroidery Floss & Needle

OOC: Above are things that I felt like Yeva keeps in her bag without it feeling too much like she's prepared for this. Generally, she sleeps in a big shirt/nightgown at an inn, so I imagine she's a bit less dressed than some of the others. I wanted to try and keep the choices as organic as possible. Excited for this!

[Balthazar Black]

35 Ashan 720

Well Balthazar couldn't say he'd ever woken up from a drunken nap to find anything stranger than that he woke up to on the 35th of Ashan after a little fun at a tavern. The ground he slept on now was not all that different than the bed he'd been on mostly because the earth gave the Defier a little deference. Sure it was no cushion but it was certainly more pleasant than it could have been. His body's unnatural warmth kept the sleeping mage oblivious to the sudden cold for a few bits but not forever. Balthazar had thought the strange dream the product of his whiskey but it turned out, when his eyes opened in the waking world, that it had been something far different. Tio greeted them and Balthazar sat up suddenly, his fist outstretched towards the Immortal impulsively though the lack of blue flames flying meant Balthazar had realized he wasn't in actual danger yet. Did he just get kidnapped again? Did it matter?

Balthazar looked at those around him and saw some familiar faces. Yeva and Victor, he recognized. Woe and Tio he did not. He'd seen their kidnapper once before a long time ago in Yaralon but it seemed much had changed for Tio in the time since so he could not reconcile the man he'd seen with the Immortal before him.Then he looked around at the mountains while Tio gave his introduction to his prisoners. Balthazar had never been to the mountains of Scalvoris but something here felt... wrong. Maybe it was the black clouds overhead maybe it was a hangover, Balthazar couldn't be sure. Tio explained who he was, the Devout of Scalvoris, and that there was a danger coming from the mountain they were on. Balthazar saw the pitch coming before Tio delivered it but that didn't matter. Tio had probably know that when he took Balthazar.

He was an Element now, if there was a danger to Scalvoris he would do what he could to stop it. Unfortunately he wished he'd been sleeping near more of his things. He had only his black clothing and a small collection of wells he kept in a pouch with him at all times. He hadn't quite figured out what to do with them but he kept them around because he knew that if he left them out, something would probably happen. We worked around too many thieves and slept in too many inns to leave them around. All said, Balthazar took the kidnapping really well. He looked over calmly at Yeva who was not doing so well herself.

He understood her outrage, but all thing's considered it could have been worse. At least Tio made them some food to eat. Balthazar hadn't moved to eat it but the food was there all the same. Balthazar had moved towards the fire though and the flames stretched towards him slightly as he did. He sat near the fire and looked towards Yeva when she nodded to him. He nodded back. This was weird but they'd done weird before, they could do it again.

"You're not wrong, Yeva, but kidnapping seems pretty common in Scalvoris doesn't it?" Balthazar asked her with a small grin to try and comfort her a little before he turned to Tio "So, yeah, I'll help. What's up there?" What was the worse that could happen?

► Show Spoiler

Balthazar's Bag:
3 Rainbow Wells
2 Stone Well
2 Fire Well

[Victor Amielle]

Usually, Victor’s dreams varied little these trials. He was either trapped in the darkness, naked and helpless, without magic, screaming, for someone, for anyone to come and help him, to no avail – or back in his native Lysoria, staring at the dead body of his lover that his brother’s mages had thrown in front of his feet. This dream was different though. Had he been lucid or something close to it, he might have appreciated the lack of underground prisons and dead bodies, but his dreaming mind did not perceive things the same way or have the ability to analyze them properly.

He did take a look around though, marveling at the size of the ship before he proceeded to explore and look for the other passengers or the crew – only to discover that it was entirely devoid of life. He did not have time to ponder that oddity for a more than a couple of moments before there was a rumble, as if the ship were running aground. He was about to run on deck – only to abruptly find himself lying on a surface of rocks.

The noble blinked in a confusion as his mind that was still half asleep tried to make sense of things before he sat up, furrowing his brow slightly and shivering – his mutations, while not as detrimental as those of a lot of other mages, had made him somewhat sensitive to the cold, and he was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt at the moment. “What happened?” he asked as his gaze flittered towards the people around him that were slowly coming to as well – he recognized Balthazar who he had sparred with, but not the others – before he spotted some of his belongings in a pile next to his decidedly uncomfortable “bed”. “When I went to bed, I was in Scalvoris … and then there was some sort of ship”, he murmured, shaking his head.

A moment later, he got properly dressed, put the warm green cloak that he had acquired during an adventure in the wilds of Scalvoris on and pulled the hood over his head before he reached for his sword that he always kept nearby since he had been abducted the cycle before. Having his weapon made him feel more confident, and what more, it seemed as if he still had his magic as well. The last time he had woken up in an unfamiliar place, in what had later turned out to be the prison Niflheim, it had been taken away …

The man that addressed them, the man that was apparently responsible for their current situation and supposedly a member of the council, looked strange. At the same time, there was something familiar about him though. The noble furrowed his brow as he tried to remember where he had seen him before. “I met you – or someone that resembled you, in a graveyard in Almund”, he finally remarked, in a soft tone of voice, as he was still trying to make sense of things, before he listened to Tio explain himself.

Like any sane man, Victor had a problem with being kidnapped, especially after the events in Melrath. Tio had told them that he was a councilor though. Helping him would likely provide him with a chance to redeem himself and perhaps even change his brother’s opinion of him, and thus he remarked, moving a little closer to the fire as he did so, “I will come with you. What kind of catastrophe will we try to prevent though, if you don’t mind me asking? And why us?” he wanted to know before he reached for a sausage. A moment later, he was eating. While the food did little to lessen his confusion, his stomach stopped grumbling; and the close proximity to the fire made him a little more comfortable.

Equipment/Attire

Black pants
Black boots
Undergarments
Leather gloves
White shirt
Masterwork adamantite shortsword

The Green Coat: a well-tailored olive-green coat with subtle embroidering. It has long sleeves and is down to Victor’s knees. It is the equivalent of chainmail armor, but only against physical blows from close up. It is also warm. (received in this thread)

A journal and writing supplies that Victor usually keeps on his nightstand.

[Woe]

Working in the Stone Dungeons wasn't the most pleasant job, yet Woe found it to be lucrative enough. Information was as valuable as treasure, after all. And people would tell much without even the slightest prodding with a torture device. One only needed patience and of course to keep those implements within the client's viewing range.

Yet, sometime during those waiting periods, Woe had fallen asleep or else lost consciousness. He found himself on a ship, in a spacious chamber within it. The floor bobbed and swayed with every crash of a wave, as it sailed along. Woe was no stranger to sea travel, and found the trip rather soothing. That is, until the door to the chamber he was in suddenly opened and he awoke to the chill of icy mountain air.

He was lying on the ground, next to a pile of some of his belongings that he'd had on him while at the dungeons. A small field torture kit, his leather blacksnake whip, his copy of a book of webspinner nursery rhymes, and not really much else.

He was still wearing the outfit he'd gone to the dungeons in. With his rings, that of reversal as well as the master ring. Woe wore a silken, dark sapphire blouse beneath a black tweed doublet, fastened by silver buttons. Cloth of silver cravat around his neck was tucked into the neckline of his vest. Tweed trousers of black color with diamond-quilted stitching. Shoes of black, polished leather. Wrist-length gloves of black tweed. Over it all, he had a black velvet cloak, lined with royal blue and cloth of silver brocade.

A little over-dressed for most occasions, it must be said, yet he'd taken a liking to finery lately.

The sound of a dog whining emerged from the darkness just out of eye sight. Far from the outskirts of the campsite, Breen, Woe's Diri of Sorrow made itself known. His blue eyes reflecting the firelight as he limped into view. He took the form of a black-furred Lysorian shepherd dog. He looked sad and weak, but he was every bit as healthy and strong as any specimen of his breed that was in good condition.

Woe was still a bit drowsy, having just awoken to this situation. He was no stranger to strange happenings and being absconded with through Emea. Magpie had shown him much in the way of Emean travel, and so wasn't too jarred by the experience. Given the proliferation of dreamers lately, Woe was surprised that unexplained kidnappings were not reported more often.

At any rate, they were here now. There was no use spilling tears of frustration over it.

Breen whined again, and began limping over toward Yeva. He relayed a telepathic question to his master, "Woe... is she sad? She's crying." The dog nudged her hand with his head, licking her fingers and trying to cheer her up.

Woe shook his head at his dog, clucking his tongue, "I don't think she's shedding tears of sorrow, Breen..." The torturer was too tired to attempt to read her through Empathy, and didn't think to. Yet he was well versed enough in human behavior that he could tell she was frustrated, and perhaps a bit scared.

They were not alone there, there were two other men. But for now, Woe's attention was on the man who admitted to being their kidnapper. This Tio, who he'd never heard of. Scalvoris? He knew little enough of Idalos' geography for all his travels. He'd never been to Scalvoris, but had met people who had. So he was vaguely aware of the place.

Woe fastened the field torture kit to his belt, and rolled up his whip, looping it safely through the belt as well. Then he turned his attention to the strange man, Tio. "How did you bring us here? And what catastrophe are you talking about?"

He noticed the smell of cooking food, and wasn't too hungry, but nevertheless took a piece of bacon. He whistled, and Breen came to his side. He fed him the bacon. Just to see if it was safe. "You're using me as a tester?" Breen whined into Woe's mind. The mortalborn merely shrugged, "You'll be fine, Breen. If he wanted to hurt us, I think he could have done that much and more by now."

Having given the bacon to Breen, Woe sampled a sausage for himself.

"I suppose I'll come along and help... Since I have no idea where we are, and it'll be safer if we stay together."

Equipment

Described attire in the post above. He's dressed fairly warm.
1 basic+ field torture kit
1 Average Blacksnake whip.
1 Diri of Sorrow (Breen, in the form of a Lysorian Shepherd dog)
1 waterskin
1 basic+ iron knife
1 Ring of Reversal
1 Ring of Master
1 Book of Webspinner Nursery Rhymes
1 Pair of portal footwear

[Tio Silver]

The Mountain King

35th Ashan, 720
Scalvoris Mountains

At Yeva's exclamation Tio had the decency to at least look a little guilty. "Again, sorry for the whole kidnapping thing. Have you seen how bonkers the sort of people who serve an Immortal are? Well I serve all of them. You don't get a job like that without having quite a few screws loose." He shot her an apologetic smile. "Honestly I would have just asked if that was an option, but I am being quite literal when I say that every trill counts. There wasn't time to go around asking nicely. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I swear I will make this up to you all when this is said and done, and get you home or wherever else you want to go."

At Woe's question about how he'd brought them here Tio waved a hand flippantly, as if the perfectly valid question wasn't worth mentioning. "With my big dreamy pirate ship. You might remember being aboard it for a little while? It's a priest thing, don't worry about it." When they each asked some form of question regarding what was up the mountain or what his foretold catastrophe was however his smile contorted into a grimace. "Ah, now that's the problematic bit. What I can tell you is that a new king sit atop the throne of the mountain, and that their power is the source of the coming disaster. They are your target. You have somewhere between a break and a trial to reach them, or else hundreds of people are going to die and many more will face untold suffering." He let out a heavy sigh. "Sadly that's where the extent to which I can aid you ends. Let's just say that I'm supposed to represent a neutral ground between the Immortals, and getting directly involved in this affair may or may not violate that neutrality and result in worse consequences in the future. I chose you guys because I've heard word about the things you've accomplished before, because I genuinely believe that together the four of you can reach the peak, but most importantly because you have no prior connection to me whatsoever. You are essentially independent variables."

Abruptly he stood up and gave them them all a quick salute. "Well I fear that's all we have time for. Not a lot I can tell you anyway. I can give you the odd nudge in the right direction, but I hate to say you're pretty much on your own from here. Good luck, and god speed to you all."

And with that Tio took a step backwards and vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but the campfire and food as a sign that he'd ever been there to begin with. As if on cue a howling gust of wind blew through the camp, blowing a coil of smoke from the fire to pass through the archway standing at the base of their stairs before disappearing. It seemed that they were well and truly on their own from here.

The mountain loomed ominously over them, daring them to challenge it.

General Info

Welcome to the thread! I'll be your guest moderator for today.

I've refined the original idea a bit so it's all a part of one big thread, designed to be a personal struggle for each character.
I would ask you to please respond by the 15th of April, or to PM me if this is not possible.

Rules

Other than violence and the odd swear words I would ask that there not be any explicit adult themes.

Mod Style

I am shamelessly copying this style of moderation (and the template structure) from Pegasus, who I gather was taught it by someone called Crimson, because it looks like it works really well and I'd like to give it a try. Imitation is the highest form of flattery after all. My thanks to both of them.

The NPCs do not reflect my own personal thoughts of feeling on any subject. They are just characters.

As I'm only a guest mod I'm not going to kill your character, severely wound them or anything like that, but I would like to give fair rewards/consequences for any actions taken in this thread. If you feel that these are at all unfair please let me know.

Otherwise let's have some fun!

Obectives

Must Do

1. Start trekking up the path. You can describe it however you like, but please use the picture above for inspiration.

Can Do

1. Introduce yourselves. You're going to be working together after all.
2. Nominate a leader. It might make things easier.
3. Wrap up warm. It's a cold, misty, windy day and you're going up a mountain. It's going to get pretty chilly if you're just in your nighty.

[Yeva]

35 Ashan 720

Yeva frowned at Tio's words, reassuring he was sorry and that he was perhaps a bit touched as a result of (or an explanation for) his religion, "Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she fumed under her breath, crossing her arms in a somewhat childish display of submitting to her circumstance. Balthazar tried to offer a bit of dark humor, and she looked over when he spoke, surprised enough by his smile to offer a light swat at his arm, this time expecting an electric shock, "Very funny."

The men in the group asked a few more questions while Yeva warmed by the fire and allowed her clothes to dry. They didn't have much time - every trill counted - so she tugged her gloves from her bag and began to wrestle them onto cold fingers. Tio used this opportunity to answer their few questions, only adding more to her own supply. A new king whose reign wound kill hundreds? Her anger melted and she suddenly felt a bit guilty for throwing such a fit, "I didn't think Scalvoris had kings...? Not since... "

Not since the Pirate King? But he was gone and the council would have acted if their city was in danger... But the dream...

Yeva looked over, past the others to the jagged walkway up the mountain and the arch the noted its ascension. Then she felt something press against her hand and she looked down to see-

A dog?

"Is this your dog?" she asked, realizing he must have belonged to the man with dark hair. The owner clicked his tongue to call the animal back to him, but she had already leaned over, smiling softly while scratching the creature behind the ears, "Hi there.... Is that your name? Breen? Aren't you just sweet, hm? I'm sorry you have to be on this cold mountain...Your poor paws."

Yeva pouted, wondering if she had any spare bandages to use as paw protection while her hands dropped and the animal went bounding back to its owner. The thing looked a bit thin, fur matted, and it looked like it might of had a limp. Is he okay?

She felt like asking would have been out of bounds. The owner gave the animal bacon, so he clearly fed his companion. Edging forward to grab a few pieces for herself, "I'm Yeva," she offered to anyone listening, taking a few pieces of meat and wrapping them in a cloth napkin, "Probably should take a few extra, just in case any one else gets hungry later," she smiled briefly and then tucked the wrapped food away. The fire was pleasing and she knew sooner than later, they would need to abandon is warmth to try and save others... She crouched, nudging a firewood with her boot and tried to loosen a thick stick - the closest thing to a torch she could think of if she could keep the wind from snuffing the flame.

Cupping a hand to her mouth, she tried to speak over the whistling of the mountain and freed a thinner wedge of wood, its tip flaming, "Anyone else need to eat? I'm packing up the leftovers. If not, we should probably get moving."

Yeva edged towards their path and drew her hood. Nothing about the stairway before her looked safe. But that was part of being brave, wasn't? Swallowing, she took her first step along the icy steps, testing its hold, too nervous to try and look over the edge. How a path was cut out of the mountain, this far away from civilization was a thing of haunting beauty. The red head made it to the arch, dusting away snow to try to try and see if there were any words or symbols that may have indicated who or what they might encounter. She was scared to go past it, waiting for someone else to take the lead.

[Balthazar Black]

35 Ashan 720

Balthazar seemed more than willing to accept Tio's explanation for the kidnapping. Who was Balthazar to judge the method? Balthazar frequently solved crimes through a clever application of lies and deception. To each their own. Tio's just happened to be a lot more invasive. However he couldn't deny curiosity about the ship. Had it been a dream after all? Or something else? Balthazar had many questions but he'd already processed that this was an urgent mission so he didn't ask them. He buried them in his mind so that he could research them later. Dream travel. Faster than Rupture magic? These thoughts were overshadowed by what Tio unveiled to the group next, there was new king on the mountain that meant to bring doom to Scalvoris. Well shit. It became less of a question of if they should help in that moment. The question became how they were meant to stop this king on the mountain.

Balthazar had never heard stories of what Tio spoke of and he was pretty good at remembering stories, so he was intrigued. The time frame only deepened the intrigue. A break or a trial? That was a wide range and Balthazar didn't particularly care to find out if they were moving too slowly. Yet then Tio said that he was meant to represent a neutral ground and could not lend them any aid other than that which he had given. Balthazar didn't like that. Assemble a team of strangers and leave them to stop your crisis? What was the worst that would happen with his aid? They'd succeed? Would the other Immortals seek vengeance against the ma who had gathered them? Were they being played? There were too many questions fluttering through Balthazar's mind and so he decided simply not to ask any of them. He knew what he needed to know.

There was a fight waiting up the mountain and these were the people he'd fight it with.

Balthazar looked up the long winding staircase with jagged rocks shooting up on all sides of it. The thin stone arch sat there, daring the adventurers to go through it. He wanted to conjure a portal to the end of the steps but also felt uneasy about his surroundings so he decided to take it all in as best he could. He'd give this party no shortcuts yet. Yeva smacked his arm, getting her little shock in return, and Balthazar's smile widened. If nothing else, he'd make sure she made it through this. She'd been far too kind to him in his dark days for him not to try and return the favor. When Yeva moved to the fire to get warmer, Balthazar walked with her- not so that he too could get warm but because he knew the fire would lean slightly towards him and make it easier for Yeva to warm herself... and the fire did.

Yeva eventually posed the question about whether or not anyone else wanted to eat and Balthazar shook his head. Food would have been wise but he was still recovering from the liquid dinner he'd had before Tio abducted him and so he wasn't quite hungry. Then Yeva suggested they get moving and Balthazar thought to disagree when he realized something, "She's right. There's a lot of steps, we can do introductions on the way." And so Balthazar turned to follow Yeva to the steps. When she stopped, he kept moving for a few paces, passing through the archway before he turned back to Woe and Victor and the dog who did not know him. "I'm Balthazar and I work with the Elements." Anything else he'd tell them as needed. Yeva he trusted but these two he did not know... yet. Besides Balthazar had grown tired of introducing himself with the list of magics he knew. He'd use it as relevant and let them figure out from there. Then he would turn and continue back up the steps. It was certainly cold. Balthazar wished he'd brought another layer but hadn't. He managed better than most would because of his mutations but every once in a while along the way up the steps he'd begin to rub his hands together and anyone observant enough would see a little smoke rising from them.

► Show Spoiler

Balthazar's Bag:
3 Rainbow Wells
2 Stone Well
2 Fire Well

[Victor Amielle]

There were four of them and a councilor who seemed to have a couple of rather questionable views. When he spoke about the sort of people who served an Immortal being bonkers, the Transmuter furrowed his brow fractionally as that was something that he didn’t agree with. He served an Immortal, after all, and such had not affected his sanity negatively, thank you very much. Any mental problems that he might have suffered from in the past were due to the actions of mortals, such as his dear brother’s employees.

At the same time, there was something quite intriguing about Tio and the things that he spoke of though. A ship that seemed to have some sort of connection to the world of dreams and could ferry people around was something that he had never heard of before. He was about to open his mouth and ask Tio about it as his curiosity had been piqued, but then he realized that this was not the right place or time to do so. They had to prevent a catastrophe if what Tio had said was true. The questions would have to wait.

At least most of the questions would have to wait. There were a few matters that he felt needed to be addressed now. “What are we supposed to do once we have reached the king? Kill them? Persuade them to change their mind?” he wanted to know. “And what is their power?” He found it interesting that Tio had called the king ‘they’. Were kings not always male? Or were they dealing with some sort of entity that was not quite a person? Like the others, he was of course also wondering where the king was coming from, but that was something that didn’t matter now.

When Tio simply vanished into thin air a few moment later, the noble just stared at the place where he had been for a bit before he turned to face his temporary companions. They were even more ill-equipped for this mission than he was. Yeva and Balthazar weren’t dressed appropriately for the weather at all, and Woe’s dog did not look as if it would be of much use in combat. The creature seemed to be quite well-behaved, but it was a bit thin.

Which made him wonder how the Devout expected them to accomplish their mission. Since they were already here though, he decided, they might as well give it a try, especially since there didn’t seem to be an easy way back, and he was not interested in being a coward.

With that thought in mind, he turned to Yeva, grabbing another sausage as he did so. “Packing the leftovers is a good idea since the Devout wasn’t able to give us an exact timeframe. We might very well be here for a while. I’m Victor, by the way”, he introduced himself. Like Balthazar, he did not talk about his magic or what else he might be capable of, but simply wrapped his coat tighter around his body before he began the ascent.

He moved slowly and carefully, in order to test how slippery the steps were as he had very little interest in falling and making a fool of himself in the process – or getting hurt or even breaking something. He was the only one out of the four of them that was actually wearing real winter clothes, but he was still not entirely comfortable as his mutations made him prefer warmer temperatures. And what more, he could almost taste the snow and the ice, another side effect of his progressing in his chosen magic.

There was something strange about Balthazar, he noticed, as he followed the white-haired man up the steps. He almost seemed to be … was there smoke rising from his body?

He decided not to ask, but focus on what lay ahead.

[Woe]

Breen gave a high pitched but good-natured whine as Yeva showered him with sympathy. He lapped it up, like the little malingerer he was, and Woe had to roll his eyes a bit. "Oh, yes Breen is mine. He's a... adequate dog. A bit of a malingerer, don't let the whining fool you, he's in perfect health."

Woe snapped his tongue, calling the dog back to his side. The creature's limp was a little less evident after leaving her side, filled with her sympathy that it'd drank in. It's breath misted on the air as it came to sit by Woe's side. Still, his blue eyes lingered on Yeva for a few moments before turning to look up at Woe.

"Tidings, Yeva, Balthazar, and Victor." Seeing little point in preserving his anonymity, or faking his name, Woe resigned to give his true identity. Not that anyone present would know who he was. "I'm Woe."

When Yeva asked if they ought to bring along the food, Woe nodded. "We've no idea how long we'll be up here, so may as well take advantage of every resource. I'll carry any excess if you need me to. We may have to ration our food, in case that dreamwalker wasn't entirely correct in his assessment of how long we'll be here."

Sighing, Woe began to fall in step with the others, after they made their preparations to move onwards. He pulled his velvet cloak around his shoulders tightly, rubbing his arms as he did so. It was fairly cold up here, and he'd been caught in the worst winter that Ne'haer had suffered for generations.

As they went along, up the path, Woe was mostly silent, keeping his head down to watch where he stepped, and so wasn't able to appreciate the scenery. Like Victor, his steps were slow and deliberate, taking care not to fall on a particularly slippery rock. For a few bits, they simply made their way up the path.

Finally, Woe broke the silence with a suggestion, spoken softly so as not to echo across the mountainside, "So, I presume but don't know if any of you are familiar with each other... You're all strangers to me though. It may be useful to know what each of us is capable of, so we can work better together."

"I'm good with words and figuring out what motivates people in general... and I can fight if we need to, but I'm better at preventing fights." He left out that he was a mage. Prejudice against mages was fairly ubiquitous in the world, and so it wouldn't do to share with just anyone.